Several troubling images from England's stalemate with the USA endure. The most obvious is that of an agonised Rob Green scrambling helplessly back towards his line as the loose ball dribbles into the net. Another is of Jozy Altidore, a striker who mustered a solitary Premier League goal last season, searing beyond a flagging Jamie Carragher and into the penalty area.

Each incident contributed to the prevailing sense of vulnerability in English ranks. Yet if Green's aberration could be deemed freakish, Carragher's might have been the more disturbing. The 32-year-old had been booked for a foul on the slippery Robbie Findley when Altidore turned the veteran centre‑half and would not be caught. Injury to Ledley King has since served to elevate the Liverpool defender to first choice, and quicker opponents than the American lie ahead. Cause for concern? Apparently not.

Mention of the incident prompted a smile rather than a wince from Carragher. Thierry Henry used to leave the defender scorched in his vapour trail too often. The centre-half is used to dealing with concern over a perceived lack of pace. "We've got a sports psychologist here, Christian [Lattanzio], who's a nice fella but I'm not booked in for any Eileen Drewery session," he said.

"Every player has different strengths and weaknesses. No player has everything. I'm certainly not slow, but I'm not the quickest. So you adapt. If you are playing a quick striker, you play deeper. If there's a slow striker you push up. The reason John Terry and I are at this level is that we are good at reading the game rather than because we have outstanding pace. The best partner I had at Liverpool was Sami Hyypia, and he was slower than me and John. But it's about understanding the game and getting in the right position. We've played against the best strikers in the world over the years."

Altidore, while impressive on Saturday, would not normally fall into that category. "But he had a great first touch and turn, and, as I'd been booked early on, I was a bit worried about giving away a penalty or a foul on the edge of the box," said Carragher. "That might have led to a red card. It happened to me at West Ham this season, against Carlton Cole [a challenge that prompted a yellow card and penalty] and I've learned that, at times like that, you have to let him go. That's what the keeper's there for."

The Football Association continues to monitor King's groin problem on a daily basis, with the coaching staff privately resigned to the fact that he is unlikely to be available in the foreseeable future. Tottenham Hotspur's head of medical services, the South African Wayne Diesel, is in his homeland and in dialogue with the national team's doctors. King is restricted – as usual – to work in the pool yesterday. The results of a scan on the groin will be scrutinised today.

While Michael Dawson and Matthew Upson will retain hope of being involved in Cape Town, Fabio Capello will be attracted to Carragher's leadership credentials. Yet the England manager will also need a goalkeeper who commands the confidence of his back line against Algeria. Faith in Green was eroded by the horrendous handling error at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. The talk now is of recovery and, in that, the West Ham player can look to his centre-half for inspiration.

Carragher has endured his own traumas. As a 20-year-old rookie he scored two own-goals in a 3-2 home defeat to Manchester United, seeking solace in the aftermath by escaping to a pub in Formby where his father, Philly, helped him to drown his sorrows. "I had a few drinks that night," he said. "It was hard coming back from something like that as a young kid. But you have to. Rob Green won't be feeling great at the moment, but there will have been times in his career, perhaps way back when he was 16 or 17, when he would have had to pick himself up.

"I know people look at Premier League footballers and only see the money and the lifestyle, but it has been a journey for all of us to get to this point. There have that many times when you have been knocked to the floor and you have to get back up. I went to Lilleshall when I was 14, and I wasn't better than the lads there then. We were at the same level. But I think my mentality helped me, whereas some of them might be playing non-league now. Rob Green is playing for England for a reason; he will have shown mental strength to get here.

"How he recovers is up to him. When I make a mistake I don't want people coming up to me all the time saying: 'Get your head up.' That just makes me think about it even more. I would rather be left on my own to sort myself out. Everyone is different. But he has a chance to rectify it. He made a good save in the second half [in the Altidore incident]. I missed a penalty in the shoot-out at the last World Cup and there has been nothing I could do about it for the last four years. I've had to wait, but I'd take another penalty now. Greeny will be looking for the chance to play again to put things right."